BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,120.67.

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Saturday, February 1st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,225.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,261.00 to $1,275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $991.95 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1,025.55 and its 200-day moving average is $967.09. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $745.55 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $153.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $11.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.52 by $0.41. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.45 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.57%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,072.64, for a total transaction of $10,726,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,403,973.12. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,190 shares of company stock valued at $115,163,141 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $20,597,000 after buying an additional 2,466 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $87,904,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 9,712 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,956,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. Cascade Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $379,000. Finally, GC Wealth Management RIA LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $258,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Company Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.